This mixture of SUPERNATURAL, PRISON BREAK and THE FUGITIVE (has any TV series been ripped off as many times as THE FUGITIVE?) gets off to a promising start, but I wonder whether there ultimately will be anything in this series we haven't seen before. David Nutter, the new King Of The Pilots now that Robert Butler seems to be retired, directed this fast-moving pilot episode about three recent college graduates--lawyer Jay (Matthew Bomer, FLIGHTPLAN), rich kid Tyler (Logan Marshall Green, 24) and mysterious Will Traveler (Aaron Stanford, X-MEN 3)--leaving Yale for a two-month cross-country road trip before beginning their new professional lives. They begin with a night out in New York City, and before hitting the road the next morning, Will proposes a prank: that Jay and Tyler race from the top of the Guggenheim to the street below on rollerblades. Video cameras capture the two friends whizzing through the crowded museum while security guards chase them and a fire alarm sends the patrons to the street. When the two friends reach the corner, Will calls Jay on his cell phone. He says, "I'm sorry I had to do this," just before a bomb blast levels the museum. Instant suspects on terrorism charges, Jay and Tyler dodge cops and FBI agents all over the city, while wondering what else they don't know about their best friend Will Traveler.

Setting aside the fact that racing through the Guggenheim is an idiotic thing for guys in their mid-20s to be doing, which hardly helps make the leads likable, TRAVELER is an intriguing concept, if only because we're left in the dark as to why the explosion happened and how Jay and Tyler came to be inadvertently involved. Unfortunately, do we really need another serialized action show about shadowy conspiracies, unanswered questions, sinister law enforcement agencies and rich white men holding the puppet strings from their dimly lit mansions?

One way the show could work is if it was more like THE FUGITIVE, where every episode did not hinge upon the overall show concept and could occasionally function like an anthology where the two leads could interact with guest stars and get involved with their problems ROUTE 66-style. Retro perhaps, but at least it wouldn't tire out the premise and leave the writers scrambling for ideas every week the way PRISON BREAK did last season, where the show started spinning its wheels waiting for Show 22's big escape.

I doubt Nutter will be directing many more episodes, so we'll have to see if the series can stay fresh. I'm game to give TRAVELER a couple more chances though.

P.S. Titling the series after its villain seems an odd choice. Now TRAVELERS would make sense, as its leads are also "travelling" across the country, or were before they got into a fine mess.

Giving this thread a bump as a reminder that this series will finally be premiering tonight on ABC. It's not exactly a sign of confidence that TRAVELER is being burned off during the summer.

I say we get The Black Donnellys on the case, aye tee tie!

I watched the first few minutes and then channel surfed, returning a few times until it lost my interest again. I may give it another chance, but the idea of pretty boy Yale graduates being chased...boy, am I not the demographic for this one.

Marty referred to the Guggenheim, but unless they re-shot that sequence, it wasn't the Guggenheim. Thought I saw it identified as the Drexel (which is in Philadelphia), which further confused me -- weren't they supposed to be in Manhattan?

The other part I saw was where one kid was captured by the FBI and the other guy called on his cell phone and claimed he had another bomb -- oy! There's more framing on television than there is in construction.

I don't remember. I must have written Guggenheim for a reason. Is it possible they called it Guggenheim in the show, but filmed those scenes someplace else? The show is set in New York though.

Didn't see the show, but given its unique interior shape it's hard to imagine a show set at the Guggenheim being filmed elsewhere (such are the magic of sets, however). Then again, DRESSED TO KILL unfolds at the Met but its interiors were shot in Philadelphia.

The name of the museum blown up in the show is the Drexler, but it apparently was filmed at the New York Public Library.

It looks as though I was right in my initial review. I don't think there's any way this show can sustain its storyline over the long haul, considering how many twists and turns it's already taken. I understand the writers don't want to face the criticisms raised by LOST fans, which is that the show was spinning its wheels and going nowhere, but taking the other extreme path isn't the answer either. There's a reason why every TV series that has ripped off THE FUGITIVE (including the CBS remake) has failed. Because they're too focused on plot and not enough on characters. Granted, these two kids in TRAVELER are no David Janssen (truthfully, they're pretty boring), but after only a few episodes, the series has gotten bogged down in dumb cliches. Another government conspiracy? Another benevolent Deep Throat? More supporting characters who show up, act cryptically, then vanish? And would the FBI really ignore any evidence that appeared to exonerate the prime suspects and refuse to even consider a 1% possibility that they might be wrong (okay, I guess I can give the series this one, frightening as it may be)?

Does anybody know why Neal McDonough (BOOMTOWN) is working without credit in this?

EDIT: Okay, I just found the answer to this, courtesy of series creator David DiGilio:

Neal is the man. The Mystery Man. Everyone perks up when he comes on screen. But you found the rub when you said "short one-liners," aka cameos. Just as big movie stars often do uncredited cameos in features, Neal is kind of doing that for us. But don't worry. He gets much more involved. And he will get credit when his character has a name. For now, enjoy those cameos. I know Neal enjoyed doing them.